Newton County man sentenced for child pornography charges

A 61-year-old Deweyville, Texas man has been sentenced to federal prison for child pornography violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney John M. Bales on March 28.

According to a press release from the U.S Attorney's office, Mark James Frederick pleaded guilty on October 30, 2012, to possession of child pornography and was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison today by U.S. District Judge Ron Clark.

According to information presented in court, on January 14, 2011, police received a report claiming a minor had been sexually assaulted by Frederick. The minor provided a statement to police that Frederick sexually assaulted her on several occasions, and, on at least one occasion, took Polaroid photographs of her engaged in actual or simulated sexual acts. Federal officials executed a search warrant at Frederick’s residence in Deweyville, Texas, and seized a laptop computer and numerous compact discs. Although photographs of the minor were not found, a forensic examination of the seized items revealed more than 600 images of child pornography. Some of the material included prepubescent children under the age of 12 engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Frederick was indicted by a federal grand jury on September 5, 2012, and charged with child pornography violations.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Newton County Sheriff’s Office and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher T. Tortorice.